Okay, I'm not a fan of forwards, as many of you know, but I felt I had to tell others about this as an example.
"After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message:
ByAngel213: Hi. I'm glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!
GoTo123: LOL You watch too much TV. Why would someone be following you? Don't you live in a safe neighborhood?
ByAngel213: Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out.
GoTo123: Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven't done that have you?
ByAngel213: Of course not. I'm not stupid you know.
GoTo123: Did you have a softball game after school today?
ByAngel213: Yes and we won!!
GoTo123: That's great! Who did you play?
ByAngel213: We played the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees. LOL
GoTo123: What is your team called?
ByAngel213: We are the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really cool.
GoTo123: Did you pitch?
ByAngel213: No, I play second base. I got to go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don't want them mad at me. Bye!
GoTo123: Catch you later. Bye
Meanwhile......GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far.
Her name: Shannon Birthday: Jan. 3, 1994 Age: 13 State where she lived: North Carolina
Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall. Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. every afternoon until her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School . She had told him all this in the conversations they had on- line. He had enough information to find her now.
Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst. It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so overprotective.
By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.
Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely.
He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the sudden fear she had felt.
After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded and she smiled back. He noticed her name on the back of her shirt. He knew he had found her.
Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon 's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.
Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon 's house. He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.
Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room.
"Shannon, come here," her father called. He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why. She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.
"Sit down," her father began, "this man has just told us a most interesting story about you."
Shannon sat back. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never seen him before today!
"Do you know who I am, Shannon ?" the man asked.
"No," Shannon answered.
"I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123."
Shannon was stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a kid my age! He's 14. And he lives in Michigan !"
The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true. You see, Shannon , there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them. But while others do it to injure kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you. You named the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played. The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze."
Shannon was stunned. "You mean you don't live in Michigan ?"
He laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh . It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?"
She nodded.
"I had a friend whose daughter was like you. Only she wasn't as lucky. The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and there on-line. Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it. I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again. Tell others about this so they will be safe too?"
"It's a promise!"
-------------------------------------------
Anyhow, the point of this thread is to ask, are you giving too much information about yourself online? You might be and you don't even know it.
Why do young people think "It's not going to happen to me."?
I also want to invite you to take a second look at your own profiles, be it myspace,facebook, etc. Are you accepting people who want to befriend you that you don't even know?
Discuss.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: NightSkyMod,
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
Though I admit, it's much easier to take a casual attitude when you're not a nubile young woman.
very true and my friends Smith&Wesson and their associate Mr. Benneli take care of any major issues I might have with an undesriable in my home
"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done"."
I'm pretty open with my identity and personal information. I don't give it right out, but I don't take pains to hide it, either. Mostly I think the media's overblown the risk of ending up in a sticky situation with an Internet predator.
Though I admit, it's much easier to take a casual attitude when you're not a nubile young woman.
And then, as the books were told, Fina replied: "A can of worms, my dear friend? What has this to do with reason?"
The only people who have decent amounts of information about my life are select YNers.
On Facebook, the only people who can see my information are people I befriend (and I always stalk them before adding them if I don't recognize their names right away).
On Myspace, my profile is set to private. You have to request to add me as a friend and then know my e-mail or my last name for the request to go through. My blog is no longer set to private, but seeing as how you can't get to it unless I link you or if you can see my profile anyway...
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
If any of you try to follow me I'll get Cap to beat you up
Damn straight.
And I would never feel pain / and never be without pleasure, ever, again / and if the reign stops, and everything's dry, he would cry just so I could drink the tears from his eyes...
There are so many things on the internet. I tryed to dissapear to where im living now and my aunt found me by the internet.... it was scary... i was thinking about what would happen if someone else was trying to find me. scary crap
Whats meant to be will happen.~ Tomarrow is yet another day.~ Thou shalt call me long winded.
I don't think I put too much about myself online. The only people who really know anything about me are you guys, and I trust you not to stalk me and kill me.
And I would never feel pain / and never be without pleasure, ever, again / and if the reign stops, and everything's dry, he would cry just so I could drink the tears from his eyes...
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